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A clever riff on the superhero genre, Kick-Ass teeters between teen comedy and blood-splattering action flick. You leave and wonder, What the heck? Dave (Johnson) is a comic-book fanboy whose only superpower is one he’d like to be rid of: being invisible to girls at school. He orders a scuba suit online and, with the help of a YouTube video, the not-so-superhero Kick-Ass is born. The script gets some good zingers in-Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’!) plays a bumbling archnemesis; Nicolas Cage turns up at his eccentric best; and audiences will fall in insta-love with Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), a teensy tween killing machine-but the Tarantino-plus level of violence is unsettling. Was this the filmmakers’ intent? As Kick-Ass says, with no power comes no responsibility.

In an age when stars are paid to tweet product endorsements and Facebook ads are based on your personal information, there’s no telling where the next sales pitch will come from. Enter the Joneses: a normal-looking family with tons of cool stuff who are actually a pod of stealth marketers planted in the neighborhood to push goods. Though unrelated, mom Kate (Moore, in all her glossy, raspy glory as a cutthroat saleswoman), dad Steve (Duchovny) and their two teens are still plenty dysfunctional. Joneses boasts an intriguing premise, but its uneven tone and contrived ending weaken the sale.

Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D

Not Rated |

REVIEWED BY ALYNDA WHEAT

CONCERT

Let’s settle this: Everything should not be in 3-D. The dynamic Chesney wows fans with his sun-and-sand brand of country, but the 3-D effects in this concert film are often unnoticeable. Zingy effects would distract from the fact that with no behind-the-scenes footage there’s not much to grasp beyond the music. Fortunately that’s memorable, particularly Chesney’s duets with country pro Mac McAnally and his hoarse version of “Better as a Memory.” Both moments add depth to an occasionally flat experience.

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